"Any issues?" Lucien asked, concern evident in his tone.

"It tastes... okay," Evelyn responded, half-confused as to why he was worried about her eating such a simple thing as rice.

As she was about to ask him the reason for his worry, she felt a strange energy moving inside her body before finally settling somewhere below her navel.

"What’s this?" She was shocked as she noticed her strength rising slightly, while a soothing warmth spread through her muscles.

Lucien finally relaxed as he perceived the flow of energy inside her body, a trick he had learned after attempting to channel the spiritual energy into his eyes without fusing it with the lightning element.

He was about to reply when all of a sudden, the whole apartment shook for a moment before going still.

"Ah—." Evelyn let out a sudden yelp and instinctively jumped into his arms.

What was that?

Lucien himself was alarmed for he didn’t expect an earthquake to occur all of a sudden. Unexpectedly, the apartment shook for a second time, and this vibration seemed more powerful than the last one.

"Wait here." He guided her beneath the table before going towards the balcony to check what was happening. Before he could reach it, the entire room trembled once again with the same intensity.

If not for his grabbing the edge of the sofa to steady himself, he might have fallen flat on his face.

"What the hell is happening?"

With furrowed brows, he opened the windows and caught the railing of the balcony before checking around him to figure out the cause of it.

The building shook for the fourth time, which made his doubt regarding this being done intentionally more solid.

Yet he himself grew frustrated for not being able to locate anything that could explain the cause of this. Just as he turned to go back inside, his eyes flickered towards the deep water below and caught the silhouette of a creature that spanned more than ten metres in length.

Lucien gulped, steadied his breath, and stared nervously at the abomination from up above.

The shadow moved like a predator gliding through the water and collided with the building.

The impact vibrated through the railing and sent a shiver down his spine.

"I can’t let it do as it pleases." If he didn’t stop it soon, that monstrosity might bring the whole building down, taking away their lives altogether.

Gritting his teeth, he extended his arms downward and unleashed a bolt of lightning the instance the creature halted.

The attack flashed through the air and barely struck the creature as it tried to slam into the building.

"Shriekkk."

A distorted shriek escaped from its throat that echoed throughout the apartment complex, alerting Evelyn and the others who remained oblivious to the danger lurking beneath the Black Water.

"Tsk." Lucien didn’t know what to do as he found himself in a dilemma.

Either he could strike once again, which would probably reveal his abilities as some people had started gathering at their respective balconies, or he could stand by and watch Evelyn die alongside him.

Perhaps because of the lightning strike — or simply by chance, the creature turned around and vanished into the depths of the Black Water.

I just hope it doesn’t return.

He exhaled in relief and was about to turn around when someone wrapped their arms around him.

Evelyn?

As he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, tiny droplets dampened the back of his shirt.

She was crying.

Her weak sobs reached his ears and only now did he realise that she had been terrified.

Recalling her cold demeanor after her awakening, seeing her crying like a frightened child now almost made him chuckle.

"What’s funny?" She turned her head upwards and asked with narrowed eyes.

A chill crawled up Lucien’s spine and knowing he might have made a heavy mistake, he planted a kiss on her forehead before escaping from her grasp.

Evelyn’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she stood there like a statue without moving an inch.

Meanwhile, Lucien sighed in relief at escaping not one, but two dangerous situations back to back.

"I should now be far stronger than any awakener in this building." He wasn’t arrogant enough to think himself as the strongest in the whole world, not when he had no idea about how the rest of the world was faring against the apocalypse.

He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head and opened the community group chat.

And as expected, people were constantly discussing the monstrosity that had attacked just now.

---

[Six_Is_Big_Enough]: Did you all see the abomination-like creature in the water? I only saw its outline through the water and almost fainted. 😱

[TheBeautifulMoon]: Right? I almost felt that the king of hell had arrived at my doorstep when the whole building was shaking.

[EnergyDrinkIsLife]: It might be a creature of the ocean and had reached here somehow. Don’t exaggerate everything.

[Old_Iron_Knees]: What do you mean by exaggerate? Are you blind and deaf? What kind of an idiot would still think that it’s a normal creature? Sigh, you young lads have your brains in your knees. Don’t tell me you even peed your pants.

[Grandpa_Thunder]: Exactly. What kind of sea animal causes a twenty-five-storied building to tremble, that too multiple times?

[Six_Is_Big_Enough]: Sigh, I know it might sound absurd, but I could swear I saw a streak of lightning strike that creature from the heavens above. I think I need to stop watching too much anime or I might go insane.

....

---

The chat kept getting flooded with messages so much that he had to take a pause to even read.

Moving his gaze upward, he found Evelyn tightly clutching the corner of the table in her hands like it was the only thing keeping her thoughts from spiraling.

She was a lost cause.

How good would it be if I had something to drink?

Sure, he had no lack of food now, but it couldn’t be said the same for cold drinks and other stuff.

In times like these, when one could lose their life at any moment, Lucien wanted to enjoy his life to the fullest.

A sudden idea flashed through his mind, and without waiting any further, he quickly sent a few direct messages to the most active group of people in the chat group.

—

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